QBT Alvin and the Bad Hexagon
QBT Alvin and the Bad Hexagon is the 29th episode of ShapeTales the last Non Shapey Song ShapeTales episode and the third QBT Alvin episode. Plot Fear Cylinder (as Alfred) joins Jimmy The Circle and Alvin The Triangle as QBT Alvin on the countertop. He and QBT Alvin have received a text message from a kid from Stockbridge, Massachusetts concerning one viewer's struggles with the temptation to play video games all day. Pushing the "frail and helpless" circle out of the way, they present the story. As the story begins, Bumblyburg is preparing to celebrate its 300th birthday. There is concern, however, about a mysterious web that has appeared around the statue of Obadiah Bumbly in the town square. While the townspeople fret and prepare for the celebration, QBT Alvin is in the Alvin-Mobile on his way back to the Alvin-Cave. He is eating chocolate; Alfred, speaking through the vehicle's monitor, reminds him that eating too much chocolate will make him ill and compromise his abilities as a superhero. Back at the cave QBT Alvin becomes sick and after he went to the bathroom, he lays down on the arm chair feeling tired and He admits that he can't control his chocolate addiction and agrees to let Alfred help him. They begin an exercise regimen and aim to limit, rather than eliminate, the ice cream in his diet. Meanwhile, the Bad Hexagon is formulating a plan to derail the city's celebration. Her strategy is to enslave everyone by their own personal temptations; once they are incapacitated, she will be free to take over the city of Puggslyville. She tasks Curly the Ant with identifying the weaknesses of each of the city's most important citizens: Mayor Triangle, Reporter Petunia, and QBT Alvin. Eliminating these three will cripple the city's leadership, communication, and law enforcement, she believes. She begins by paying a visit to Mayor Triangle. Her weakness is vanity. Bad Hexagon preys on this weakness, convincing her that as a representative of Bumblyburg it is her duty to look her best. She spins a web, a trap, in which she claims there are countless beautiful things to improve the mayor's appearance. The mayor, hearing her vanity validated, steps into the trap. Next she pays a visit to Petunia, whose weakness is video games. Julia realizes her important role in keeping the city informed, but admits that she could use a break. Bad Hexagon spins another trap, this one containing a test version of the latest, unreleased video game system. The temptation is too much; unable to resist, Julia steps into the trap to play. This video game is reminiscent of the light cycles from Tron. Meanwhile, back at the Alvin-Cave, Alfred has discovered that the mysterious webs have plagued Bumblyburg before. He goes to the Historical Society to do some research. On an old, scratchy film reel he discovers a scene from the distant past when an circle named Ephraim Roundly tried to ensnare the settlers of the new town with diversions at an establishment called Hexy's Fun House. The people succumbed and the town suffered, falling under the spell of Ephraim. Obadiah Bumbly arrived in time to liberate the people, and Ephraim Hexy was banished from Bumblyburg forever. The Bad Hexagon pays a visit to QBT Alvin in the Alvin-Cave, and, having learned of his weakness for chocolate, uses it to gain entrance to the Alvin-Cave. Little by little, she dampens his resolve until he too falls into a trap designed specifically for him. While the Bad Circle tries to tempt QBT Alvin into overindulging in chocolate, she wears a purple top hat and recites poems much like Willy Wonka. With Alvin indisposed in the "Ice Cream Room", she easily breaks Alfred upon his return, ensnaring him by the television in front of his favorite cartoon. With Bumblyburg's leaders and heroes out of the way, the Bad Circle proceeds to the town square to fulfill her great-uncle Ephraim's destiny. She quickly sets up shop: the new Hexy's Funhouse 2. She and her sidekick, Curly the Ants, begin to luring the helpless citizens into the funhouse, promising non-stop excitement. At the Alvin-Cave, Alfred and QBT Alvin realize that they need each other's help to fight temptation. Working together they dissolve the webs of their traps, which prove to be susceptible to the sports drink "Umph!" Freed at last, they quickly set about rescuing Mayor Rhombus and Julia; then they all rush to the town square, joining forces to fight temptation together. After having Curly arrested, QBT Alvin goes to battle against the Bad Hexagon. The funhouse topples and nearly crushes a mother and her baby, but QBT Alvin saves them, flinging the funhouse, along with the Bad Circle, out of the square and out of Bumblyburg. After the whole ordeal, everyone celebrates. The celebration is shown being played on a video screen, and a metal spider-like leg reaches up to turn the video screen off. As usual, the lessons learned are reviewed on the countertop: that giving in to temptation prevents us from being the people God wants us to be; and that we can't always fight temptation alone. The verse comes from Matthew 26:41. And Jimmy, feeling left out, makes an unexpected appearance as "The Green Lighting" (or Jim X. But, he was leaning toward Green Lighting). He tried to show the gang his theme song (which turned out to be the "What We have Learned" song). After they say goodbye, QBT Alvin shows Jimmy how to do a theme song. A band named Shux (that's their name because they're corn)comes out and plays a song called, "Rock On, QBT Alvin". Fun Facts Moral *Don't let temptation get the better of you. Explanations *A bystander is someone who is present at a event, but does not take part. *A sugar crash is where someone consumes a lot of sugar, and becomes hyperactive for a while, and then becomes sluggish. *Crimson and scarlet are different shades of red. *The facts the Bad Hexagon state about chocolate is true, considering the Mayans invented it. **White chocolate does not contain a lot of caffeine as there's no cocoa solids. *The idioms heard in this episode are: **"Penny saved is a penny earned" (or in this case chocolate) is for saving money. **"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" (eating plenty of healthy food to avoid sickness) **An apple doesn't fall far from the tree (kids acting like their, parents, grandparents, or distant relative. Which is ironic for the Bad Apple herself) **"An apple in the hand is worth three bushes" is based on "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" (better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing). Trivia *This was the first episode for several things: **This is the first QBT Alvin episode to be released on Blu-ray. **The first main QBT Alvin episode to be slightly longer than 30 minutes. **The first episode Jean Claude appears without Phillipe since Jimmy Neutron and the Giant Robot, and the first time he's seen without another rectangle. **The first appearance of the redesign Bumblyburg, as well for the Alvin Manor and AlvinCave. **The first QBT Alvin episode where both Little Johnny and Little Trixie do not have either a main or recurring role. **The first ShapeTales video to be released on Blu-ray, aside from Comma-Man: A ShapeTales Movie. **The first QBT Alvin episode that Petunia Triangle appears in. *This is the second time What Have We Learned started without Jimmy saying It's Time To Talk About What We Learned Today and We're Over Here By Qwerty To Talk About What We Learned Today, the first was Madame Triangle. *According to David Pitts, the beginning of the episode was reused from the trailer they did the year before. So, there's a few differences between the trailer and the story; including: **Jimmy being the camera man instead of Jerry. (See Also Remarks) **The ending scene where QBT Alvin give Little Johnny and Annie the candy bar was different. In the trailer, it just ends with QBT Alvin standing, then it transitions to the QBT Alvin signal with him swinging. In the episode, he leaves as the camera pans over to the alley way. *This is the last VeggieTales episode to not include a Shapey Song and the only QBT Alvin episode of the 2000s. *This is also the only QBT Alvin episode that Annie, and Gourdon Smithson appear in. *The television sets the Bad Hexagon and Alfred used are based on the same one Tim Hodge had as a child. *Abraham Roberts is voiced by Brian Roberts. Phil Nawrocki wrote that as a nod to him, as he also mentioned his wife. *The crew stated this used a lot of video motion in every shot. *The letter Mayor Triangle inside reads: "Dear Mister Nawrocki, I am a huge fan of yours and wondered if I could ask you to come entertain us at our next birthday party. We will be celebrating at Cheese. E. Rodent. Don't worry about the price of the pizza. I will pay for everything. It's the least I can do. Feel free to email me at your convenience. yours most sincerely, Mayor Triangle" *When this episode aired on Qubo, it was split into two parts, and it had the QBT Alvin: The Cartoon Adventures intro, and they played Fair and Square from 3-2-1 Walruses!: The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka after Rock On, QBT Alvin. Remarks *Dan Anderson wasn't credited for voicing Dad Cylinder. Though it might be possible was a reused line from another episode (See Inside References) *As seen from the trailer, the footage is 16:9 (widescreen). But the DVD release of it is in 4:3. However, if you compare the trailer footage to the episode, it is revealed that the trailer is cropped to match 16:9. **Both the Blu-ray and Smile of a Child edits have the cropped version. *In the beginning, Jimmy was the camera man. But the rest of the episode has Jerry, as Jimmy is Jim Gourdly in the news room. The crew acknowledged this, and later state that they just switch jobs. *Estimating the letter Mayor Blueberry was about to be sent on April 2, 2007, the episode takes place at least before that date. **The letter Mayor Triangle was going to be sent in April 2007. So considering Bumblyburg was formed 300 years ago, then it's possible it was founded in 1707. *QBT Alvin wouldn't catch Curly nor the candy bar with his plunger ears as they're smaller. *Petunia's van is bigger in the inside. *QBT Alvin's glass case contained the sun glasses from the Gruesome Robot. But would be unlikely as the glasses vanished along with the weed towards the ending of the episode. (See Inside References) Goofs *The sign for the animal shelter misspells "Bumblyburg" as "Bumblyberg". *In some shots, the white on QBT Alvin's tooth clips through the inside of his mouth. *While Mayor is doing her makeup after the Bad Hexagon enters in the office, her eyelids are in darker color. However, they changed back to their normal once the Hexagon makes a temptation portal. *Phillipe is credited, despite not appearing in the episode. Inside References *Mentioned events from Green One-Eyed Monster from Underwater and Gruesome Robot are spoken of in the countertop. *Dad's line was was originally from An Easter Carol. *The camera Wormy uses to spy on QBT Alvin and Alfred is the same one used from the How to Draw video. *This is another instance of jump roping. *The Bumblyburg library is the same room as the Moose Lake Children's Museum. *The glass case in the LarryCave contains the broken Art Bigotti plate and the rumor Weed's glasses. (See Remarks) *The chocolate covered duck is the same duck from Petunia's debut episode. Real World References *Because many elements were used from Sam Rani's Spider-Man films, a lot of references were here, including: *QBT Alvin using his plunger-ears to swing across the city, similar to Spider-Man's webslinging. *QBT Alvin hanging upside towards Petunia is a reference towards the upside down kiss scene from the first film. *"With great chocolate, comes great responsibility" is a spoof on Spider-Man's quote "With great power, comes great responsibility", which originated from his uncle Ben Parker. *The way he saved the statue before the funhouse hits it is similar in the second film, where Spider-Man stops the subway from falling the end of the tracks. *The intro on the DVD is based web designs used in the film intros. *The bitten pear logo on Jean Claude's laptop is a parody of Apple. *Petunia's temptation world is a spoof on Tron. *Jim X is a play on words for Robin, Batman's sidekick. The Red Wonder is also a spoof on Robin's nickname, the Boy Wonder. *The Bad Hexagon says the quote "Hey I'm Walking Here" from Midnight Cowboy when she's walking to the Alvin Manor Fast Forward *The doctor used in the episode would appear later. *Jimmy would eventually become a superhero.